Spiritual Disease and Its Cure by Imam Shams-ud-Deen Muhammad bin Abi Bakr bin Qayyim AlJ awziyyah

Now that you know the different types of polytheism, you should be able to perceive the answer of the previously mentioned question , and so I say, with success from Allah ~ : The reality of polytheism is that of believing that the Creator could resemble any of His creation, or that His Creation could resemble the Creator. It is denying God all His Perfect Attributes, which He ~ has described Himself with, or has been described with by His Prophet ~ - It is a special characteristic of the Deity that He is Unique, in terms of possessing the qualities of giving removing away, of harming and benefiting. Therefore, it is an obligation to devote one's supplications, fears, wishes and rely on Allah, Alone; and so whoever tries to convey these aspirations to one of Allah's Creation, has associated that creation with Allah, the Creator; the One God, Who Alone disposes of the affairs of the universe! Among the requirements of the Testimony of Faith is that no one should bow down or lower his/her head humbly to anyone, nor supplicate to another human being, asking him/her to fulfil his/her needs; for only Allah is capable of fulfilling anyone's needs. Whatever He wills takes place, and whatever He does not will does not take place! None can prevent what He has willed to bestow, and none can bestow what He has willed to prevent! One the characteristics of the Deity is Absolute Perfection, in all aspects, and this necessitates the devotion of worship to Allah, Alone. People's status, with regards to their Lord, varies according to their utmost love and submission to Him, and this conforms to the standards of the fitrah ( original pure nature) which exists in every human being from childbirth . However, the shayateen (devils) have endeavoured to change people's nature and corrupt their minds, so Allah~ sent His Messengers with the Revelation to guide with His Light; (Allah guides to His Light whom He wills.) 1 Prostration is a special act of worship for Allah ~. Alone, so whoever prostrates to others beside Him, has resembled Him to His Creation. The same judgment applies to the devotion of other actions for other than Allah ~' such as: reliance, repentance, taking oaths, praising and glorifying, etc. The Prophet~ said: "Allah~ said: 'Pride is My Cloak and Greatness is My Robe, and so he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into the Hell-Fire."2 The Prophet ~ said: "The people with the utmost punishment on the Day of Resurrection would be the painters; as it would be said to them: 'Put life into what you have created (i.e. painted). '"3 The Prophet ~ said: "Allah ~ said: 'Who are most unjust than those who try to create something like My Creation? I challenge them to create even the smallest ant or, a grain of wheat or barley. "'4 The Prophet~ said: "The most awful name in Allah's Sight, on the Day of Resurrection, would be (that of) a man calling himself 'Malik Al-Amlak' (the king of kings)."5 This is the Wrath of Allah ~ upon anyone who tries to bear any resemblance to Him, in His Names and Attributes. Allah ~. Alone, is the King of the Kings, the Ruler over all rulers. He ~' Alone, rules over all of their rulers and judges.

Whoever has a poor opinion of the Lord has indeed denied the Lord His Scared Perfection, in His Names and Attributes. Allah ~ has promised a severe punishment for those who think evil thoughts about Him, when He ~ said: ( for them is a disgraceful torment, and the Anger of Allah is upon them. He has cursed them and prepared Hell for them - and worst indeed is that destination)6 and He ~ said to those who denied Him any one of His Attributes: (That thought of yours which you thought about your Lord, has brought you to destruction, and you have become of those utterly lost! )7 Allah ~ also said about Ibrahim ~I that he said to his people: ( When he said to his father and to his people: "What is that which you worship? Is it a falsehood - gods other than Allah - that you desire? Then what you think about the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind,jinn and all that exists)?) 8 i.e. what do you think he would do to you after you have worshipped other gods? The true devout worshipper of Allah ~ is the one who submits to Him in complete humiliation; for Allah ~ . Alone, deserves All Praise, Glorification and Adoration. It is a great injustice to devote such rights to other gods , besides Allah ~- He ~ said: (He sets forth for you a parable from yourselves: Do you have partners among those whom your right hands possess (i.e. slaves) to share as equals, in the wealth We have bestowed on you, whom you fear as you fear each other? Thus we explain the signs in detail to a people who have sense.)' i.e. if one of you haughtily rejects allowing his Servant to become an equal partner in all his property, then why do you appoint My Servant to share equally that which is My Property; I am the Deity, to Whom nothing is to be attributed, besides Me, as that does not suit anyone but Me! Whoever claims so has not estimated Me with the estimation that is due to Me, and has not duly glorified Me. Allah ~ said: ( 0 mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it carefully: Verily, those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create (even) a fly, even if they met together for the purpose; and if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought. They have not estimated Allah by His Rightful Estimate. Verily, Allah is All-Strong, All- Mighty.) 2 Allah ~ also said: ( They did not make a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. On the Day of the Resurrection, the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified and Exalted is He above all that they associate as partners with Him.)3 Whatever exists in this Universe is weak before All-Mighty Allah; therefore, whoever associates anything with Allah has not estimated Him His Rightful Estimate . Those who do not estimate Allah by His Rightful Estimate claim that Allah ~ never sent His Messengers nor revealed His Book to His Creation; that He ~ simply created them and ignored them! Those who do not estimate Allah by His Rightful Estimate deny Him His Names and Attributes, such as Hearing, Sight, Will, Choice, His Elevation above His Creation, and His Speaking to whomsoever He choses among His Creation. Those who do not estimate Allah by His Rightful Estimate claim that Allah ~ punishes His Servants for something they did not do, or have no power or effect over. They claim that whatever takes place is an act of God, and so a Servant would be punished for something he/she was forced to do by his/her Creator! How could one imagine that the Best of Judges and the Most Merciful should compel His Servant to do an act, which is beyond his/her will and determination, and then punish him/her eternally for it? Allah is Above all their evil claims and accusations. Those who do not estimate Allah by His Rightful Estimate follow the Devil and make him equal to Allah ~' in observing the qualities of Glory, Obedience, Submission, Fear and Hope in him (the devil). Allah ~ said: (Did I not command you, 0 Children of Adam, that you should not worship Satan? Verily, he is a plain enemy to you. You should worship Me, Alone; that is the Straight Path.)4 The devil also invites the polytheist to worship him, claiming that he is an angel. Allah ~ said: (The Day when He will gather them all together, then He will say to the angels: "Was it you that these people used to worship?" The angels said: "Glorified are You! You are our Lord instead of them. Nay, but they used to worship the jinn, most of them were believers in them.")1 Similarly, other polytheists worship the sun, moon and stars, claiming that they worship the spirits of these planets, which address them, and fulfil their desires. So as the sun rises , the devil stands with his horns appearing to be on both sides of the sun, and when the polytheists prostrate to it, they are in fact prostrating to the devil, and the same thing happens at sunset. Therefore, whoever worships others besides Allah ~ has indeed worshipped Satan, including those who worship Prophet 'Isa (Jesus) ~\ and his mother, because it is the devil who commands them to worship them. Allah ~ said: ( On the Day when He will gather them all together and say: "0 you assembly of jinn! You gained many followers among mankind." And their friends among mankind will say, "Our Lord, we benefited from one another, and now we have reached the term which You have determined for us." He will say: "The Fire is your home, you will be in it timelessly, forever, except as Allah wills. Your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.") 2 This shows the reason for which polytheism is regarded as the greatest sin in Allah's Sight; it is unforgivable, unless one repents, and leads to eternal punishment in the Hell-Fire.